Social media has leveled the playing field for marketers at businesses of all size to connect directly with customers. And small, local businesses are seeing the benefits.

According to Dan Levy, Director of Small Business at Facebook, there are now more than 2 billion connections between local businesses and people on the platform. The scale of the network that local businesses have built is astounding:

Approximately 70% of monthly active users in the U.S. and Canada are connected to a local business on Facebook.

In an average week, there are over 645 million views of, and 13 million comments on, local business Facebook Pages.

There are more than 2 billion connections between local businesses and people.

Levy shares a number of examples of how local businesses have leveraged Facebook to grow their business, including Dixon, Illinois-based Distinctive Gardens, which saw a 40% increase in revenue from peak season sales based on Facebook promotions. He also invites other local businesses to share their stories with Facebook using this link: Submit Your Story.

According to Alex Mitow, owner of New York City-based Colombian fast food restaurant Los Perros Locos, “the impact of social media and other online platforms with a social media component impresses me constantly. Something like 70% of my customers were driven through the doors of my brick and mortar store by what they had seen online.” Mitow maintains a strong presence on Facebook, where he amassed more than 3,000 followers before his restaurant even opened, a blog, a Twitter account, and has a growing community on Instagram.

Are you connected to local businesses on Facebook? Do you think it’s worth the time and effort for a busy local entrepreneur to invest in the platform?

About the Author

Tonia Ries

Tonia is the founder of The Realtime Report and the Realtime Conferences. She recently began a new gig as SVP, Executive Director of Edelman Square, where she manages intellectual property for Edelman. When she’s not busy tweeting (@tonia_ries), she’s probably hanging out with her dog Milo. Tonia grew up in Germany and Belgium, and now lives in Montauk and in New York City.